Nineteen teams, two classifications, three district tournaments, all with the opportunity to head to a regional tournament on the line.

The high school wrestling playoffs are here. The district tournaments mark the first step in a monthlong process to reach, and possibly win, the state tournament.

Several Amarillo-area schools are participating in one of three district tournaments. For the first time in UIL history, there will be a 5A classification and a 4A-and-below classification. The top four wrestlers in each weight class will advance to their respective regional tournaments, also a UIL first. In the past, only the top two wrestlers in each weight class advanced out of district.

The school that gets to take the most advantage of this new rule is Amarillo’s lone 5A, Tascosa. The Rebels and Lady Rebels are in four-team District 2-5A with Lubbock Coronado, Midlothian and Weatherford. Tascosa hosts the tournament beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at Tascosa Old Gym.

Because four wrestlers per weight class advance and only four teams are in 2-5A, each team will advance a wrestler per weight class, pending no disqualifications.

“We just have to wait and see,” Tascosa coach Joe Stafford said. “We came out of probably one of the toughest districts in the state, where we were leaving kids at home that had they qualified out of district, they would have easily qualified out of regionals and possibly placed at state. We are going from that to a spectrum where we make weight and we qualify for regionals. Competitively speaking, as far as keeping the kids sharp and ready to compete it’s not our best option. Team strength-wise it is our best option. There are some pluses and minuses.”

The District 3-4A tournament features Amarillo High, Caprock, Palo Duro, River Road, Borger, Boys Ranch, Dumas and Pampa. Caprock hosts the tournament beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at Caprock. The Caprock Lady Longhorns are the nine-time defending state champion.

The District 4-4A tournament brings in some new Class 4A schools and some old rivals together with Bushland, Randall, Hereford, Lubbock High, Lubbock Estacado, Lubbock Monterey and Vernon at noon Saturday at Vernon.

Randall coach David Quirino, whose Raiders have won 11 straight district championships, said his team wants to keep the streak going.

“You want to continue the district championship run,” Quirino said. “The only difference is the different colored singlets than usual. We look forward to wrestling against them. They aren’t going to let the new guys, being Hereford and Randall, and think that they run things. They are going to have a little pride and a little fight in themselves to defend what is theirs. No matter who is in the lineup, we have a district run to protect. We are the defending champions, and we need to defend the district title no matter what district it’s in.”

The Raiders hope to take advantage of the new rule allowing the top four to advance.

“The goal is even more solidified that you want to take all the weight classes (to regionals),” Quirino said. “The last year that we had 15 weight classes, we qualified 14 weights and narrowly missed qualifying the 15th, and that was when two wrestlers qualify. Now that four qualify, you obviously want to take them all. New district or not, that’s the standard we are setting for ourselves.”

Stafford wasn’t a proponent for the split to two classifications, but he said his team will do whatever it can to take advantage of it.

“I never was a big fan of this split from the beginning,” Stafford said. “It is what it is. I’ll try to train these guys and girls to be successful at whatever classification they put us at. I’ve always been a big fan of wrestling being a one-champion sport in Texas. We’re excited about being in the bigger class, but in a sport like wrestling, it really holds no water like it does when you look at football. You just have to train for the people you’re going up against and hope your kids will be successful.”

Quirino, on the other hand, thinks the split will benefit the sport as a whole.

“I think it’s a good thing overall for wrestling,” Quirino said. “I know everybody wants to say they are the lone state champion in wrestling, but for the sport I think it’s a good thing. I would have preferred the 5A and 4A together and then 3A and below in a division. That could have allowed more of our West Texas programs to pick wrestling up. We are looking to try to win the state title just like it was one division. I think it’s good that more families will get to experience the state championships now. That’s going to be good for the sport.”